Retired Dow AgroSciences President Passes Away

John Hagaman, 71, retired president and CEO of Dow AgroSciences and chairman of Arysta LifeSciences, passed away Wednesday, March 24, 2010 in Traverse City, MI.

John joined The Dow Chemical Co. in 1961. His 38-year career path allowed him to contribute to many aspects of the company around the world. He moved to Hong Kong in 1967 where he served in a number of Agricultural and Specialty Product positions before becoming business development manager for Japan in 1970. He returned to Midland, MI, in 1973 in Agricultural Products, but assumed an assignment a year later in Hong Kong as a business development manager.

In 1978, John moved to Korea where he was appointed executive vice president and general manager of Korea Pacific Chemical Corp. Two years later he became general manager of the Korea Region, and in 1982, he was named a vice president of Dow Pacific.

John returned to Midland in early 1983 as product director for Commercial Products in the Global Agricultural Products Department. In 1985, he became vice president of Dow Chemical U.S.A. and general manager of North America Agricultural Products. In the same year he was named president and general manager of Global Agricultural Products for The Dow Chemical Co. and served in this position until October 31, 1989.

At that time John was named president and CEO of DowElanco, a joint venture between Eli Lilly and Co. and The Dow Chemical Co. In 1997, DowElanco became a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Co. and changed its name to Dow AgroSciences LLC on January 1, 1998, during his tenure as chief executive.

John retired as CEO of Dow AgroSciences in 1999. In 2003, John served as an advisor for Olympus Capital in their investment of Arysta LifeSciences. Later he served as an interim CEO for Arysta LifeSciences and in 2004 moved to Chairman of the Arysta Board of Directors. He retired as Chairman of the Arysta Board of Directors in 2008.

He is survived by his wife, Nelda Hagaman of Charlevoix; daughter, Laura (Douglas) Hampton of Ann Arbor; son, Leslie (Jane) Hagaman of Traverse City; grandchildren, Tyler and Melanie Hampton; and sister, Betty Doebbler of Houston, TX. He is preceded in death by his parents and sister, Francis Markham.

A private service will be held on April at home with arrangements by the Winchester Funeral Home, Charlevoix, MI.

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